Metals and Metal Ions in Human Health, Diseases, and Environment
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: elements; metal interactions; mechanisms of metal toxicity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: nutrition; micronutrients; metals; nanoparticles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Chemical elements (micro- and macro-elements)/metal ions play a crucial role in human health, as they are essential for the proper functioning of the organism. Maintaining a balanced diet rich in their various sources is essential to sustaining good health and preventing many diseases. In some cases, however, it may be necessary to supplement their deficiencies with supplements.
Chemical elements play a crucial role in medicine, both in the diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases. For example, calcium (Ca) is used in the treatment of osteoporosis, sodium (Na) and potassium (K) are part of the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and electrolyte imbalance disorders, iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) are employed in the treatment of anemia. In turn, zinc (Zn) is used in the treatment of colds and other infections and magnesium (Mg) is part of the treatment of migraines and other conditions. Moreover, lithium (Li) as an antidepressant, vanadium (V) as an antidiabetic, constitutes examples of the importance of metals in biology and medicine. Currently, selenium (Se) is being studied for its potential benefits in cancer diseases. Furthermore, radium (Ra) and other radioactive isotopes are used in cancer therapy (radiotherapy) and medical diagnostics, e.g., in positron emission tomography.
It should be mentioned that elements in the environment have a significant impact on human health. They can accumulate in the body and lead to long-term health effects. The increasing levels of metal concentration in recent years are one of the most burdensome aspects of environmental pollution. The permanent nature of metal contamination is dangerous as well as their incorporation into the food chain. The effects of their actions often become evident after many years and are not fully understood. Therefore, proper management of the presence of metals, monitoring of environmental quality, and limitation of emissions are crucial for public health protection and maintaining ecological balance.
We invite authors to submit original research papers or review articles on the role of toxic and essential metals/metal ions in human health and diseases. We also accept studies and review papers about the mechanisms of action and toxicity of elements. Moreover, we accept original papers or review articles on metals in the environment and their impact on human health with a focus on therapeutic insights to counteract the toxicity.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to the following:
- Unique biological effects of metals in diseases
- Human exposure to metals
- Innovative methods/promising strategies for assessing metals toxicity
- Perspectives on the safety evaluation of metals
- Metals, metals based complexes and polyoxometalates in modern-day medicine
- Metals, metals based complexes and polyoxometalates in cancer effects
- Metals, metal-based complexes and polyoxometalates in oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation
- Heavy metals in the environment and health impact
- Heavy metals in the ecosystem
- Current challenges in human health, diseases, and environment and potential directions in further research.
Dr. Agnieszka Scibior
Prof. Dr. Juan Llopis
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- metal toxicity
- metal-based drugs
- polyoxometalates
- protein metalation
- human health problems
- diseases
- in vitro/in vivo studies
- human studies
- environmental pollution
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